13 Jun Be productive. Make things. Repeat.

I’ve worked in busy offices for 17 years. Clocking in often well before 9 and putting in 8 to 11 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Occasionally I could get a full hour for lunch but more often that not I’d be eating aldesko.

So my new adventure in life to being free from the office and pursuing a contractor lifestyle has been an interesting transition.

I realise now that the structure and routine of having an office and working in larger teams helped create the motivating force to get me to knuckle down and get shit done.

I’m reading lots of differing opinions on time management and I’m experimenting with a different technique each week until I find one that fits.

As a designer, the act of creating actual designs is the most time consuming part. Balancing that with Project Management, Phone calls, Emails and the yearning to get out in the sun is the hard part.

I’ve found that breaking down a project to what can be done on a computer and what can be done away from a computer to be the key to feeling like you’re not sitting at your desk for 8 hrs a day.

Yesterday I did wire framing in the park while the dog entertained herself. I achieved the task and freed myself and extra hour in the evening I would have spent walking the dog!

Time management skills will be the key to a balance life which will allow me to achieve my passion for actually “doing” design work mixed with my 5 or 6 other creative projects.

I’ve read more than a few books on the subject and will continue to until I find the routine that works best for me. It all comes down to staying on track and not drifting from your daily and long term goals.

Books like this aren’t very designery. They’re not going to make you a better designer but knowing more about the subject might help you be more productive. In fact in the process of writing this today I thought of a new notebook I’d like to make. As seen in the image above. The next step is to explore ways to make it available for others to buy now. 😉 Any ideas? Message me.

PS. I found this article and thought it was funny. It articulates a few things about Tim Ferris (4 hour work week) that drive me nuts also.

5 Time management tricks I learned from years of hating Tim Ferriss